Dallas Cowboys: 2014 is Massive for Brandon Carr

By Jeff Smith

Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Carr signed a huge deal with the Dallas Cowboys to be their shutdown cornerback. So far though, he might not even be the best cornerback on the Cowboys’ roster — that honor could be Orlando Scandrick‘s. Regardless of how you look at it, both Carr and Morris Claiborne have a lot to prove in 2014. But this year could be massive for Carr specifically.

Why, you ask? There’s a good chance that Carr may not be a Cowboy after 2014 if he doesn’t improve this year.

It’s crazy to imagine that the Cowboys would pay all of that money and then simply cut Carr, but the last of the money that’s guaranteed to Carr is a cool $1 million that he received for being on the roster for the first day of the NFL year. So, with that being said, what happens next is going to depend completely on how the Boys’ No. 1 cornerback plays this season.

He’s taken the right approach in stating that he wants to become that shutdown corner that he believes he can be, and he’s also dropped some weight in an attempt to be quicker and to be able to keep up with those speedy wide receivers that are across the NFL, and specifically in the NFC East.

If the Cowboys cut Carr in 2015, they’d only save around $550k. If they cut him as a June 1 cut, it would free up $8 million in 2015, but Carr would still count for $7.4 million against the cap the following year.

So, if Carr plays well in 2014, the Cowboys may end up offering him a pay cut or possibly a restructured deal. It’s a big unknown right now, but what’s not unknown is the fact that 2014 is a season where Carr absolutely needs to thrive.